For Now, My Love
by barakuro
Summary: A  dying baby  is mysterioulsy left in kurama's hands, a bedraggled hiei in his living room, and a new chapter in Hiei's past..... made for leuleu.
1. Chapter 1

1"So how's three eyes?" Yusuke's voice sounded amused over the telephone. "Has he gotten in any trouble while I was away?"

"No. Actually he's still moping." Kurama supplied.

"What? Moping! Since when does shorty get all emotional?" Kuwabara's voice sounded in the background.

"Yami went back to Makai and Koji's sick." Kurama glanced quickly at Hiei, still in the corner, hi head buried in his knees. "He hasn't eaten since Ryoko shoved that riceall down his throat and that was on Thursday . . ."

"WOO HOO!! GO RYO-CHAN!"

"Shut up, Kuwabara. So he's really that down, huh?"

"I'm not quite sure what to do with him at the moment. My head's been spinning for awhile because Koji wont stop wailing. Ryoko's been singing to him and that keeps him quiet but she's sleeping right now. We've both been up for nearly nine days."

"You sound pretty tired, man. You should get some sleep." Yusuke said, concerned for his health. "I'd think it would be pretty hard to sleep with that kind of racket. I'm not technically on the phone with you and its annoying the crap out of me. Nine days . . . sheesh!"

"I've gone for longer." Kurama said with a sigh. "Besides, he's starting to grow on us."

"You know, I think we should go to Makai. All demon butt-kicking urges aside. I think we need to talk to Yami. We can't have out favorite three-eyed jerk face moping like a child forever. We're coming over right now. See ya!"

He put the receiver down and rubbed his tired eyes. _'Oh great, here it comes . . .' _Kurama decided that he might as well take a nap. He plopped down on the soft, cushioned sofa and closed his eyes. Within minutes, he began dreaming.

_Koji lay in a small cradle in the middle of a dimly_ _lit room. Kurama recognized this as the nursery in Yami and Hiei's apartment. The wall was painted as a mural of Makai, the dark moon rising high above a purple sky. In the far corner were painted corpses of defeated demons and on top of them, sitting casually with a bloodied katana, was Hiei, shadows across his face but the Jagan was open and glowing. Ryoko had done an exceptional job, he thought. 'I hadn't known that she was into painting murals.' Each corner of the room showed another of the reikai team. Yusuke and Kuwabara on the east and south walls. And Youko Kurama to the north, a sullen Shuuichi hovering in the darkness behind him. She did a __**really**__ good job._

_Inside the cradle, Koji slept silently, and didn't notice when a shadowy figure made its way to the crib. _

"_Nymph," Kurama said sternly, but the demon couldn't hear him. She lifted Kohi from the blankets and whisked him out of the room._

_The room around his blurred and swirled together. Kurama then found himself in the ring at the tournament. His opponent was barely able to stand upright, her sickly body thinned and her face paled. She stared at him determinedly. "I will defeat you with my last breath."_

_Kurama did not move, and allowed the girl to attack him, her weapon just barely grazing his cheek before she fell lifeless to the ring floor. Her flesh disintegrated leaving the bone uncovered until she was nothing but dust._

_All went dark, and Kurama could very faintly make out a figure coming toward him. It took him a few seconds to recognize who it was. Nymph was still holding Koji, but the child was awake and crying. Hi heavily bandaged head was pressed against Nymph's chest as she carried him to Ningenkai. She laied the babe back in the crib and touched his cheek before turning and fleeting out the door. Kurama crept closer to the screaming child. There was a new power about him– the Jagan. Suddenly a familiar scent reached his kitsune nose. It reeked of death._

Kurama jumped up from the couch, the dream fleeting from memory. Suddenly Kurama heard a loud pounding at the door and jumped to answer. In the doorway stood Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Shizuru.

"Finally! Jeez, what took you?" Yusuke exclaimed. "I must've been pounding for ten minutes!"

"Sorry, I sort of fell asleep." Kurama replied sheepishly, opening the door wider and stepping back so the other could get in.

"How could you with all the racket that kid's making?" Shizuru asked.

"Give the guy a break, sis. He's been up for nine days straight."

"Really? From what I can tell, its been longer than that."

"So where is the little guy, anyway?" Yusuke asked, looking around.

Kurama led them down the hall and across the living room.

Halfway inside, Yusuke stopped. "Isn't that Hiei?"

Kurama sighed and nodded his head.

"Jeez, he looks dead!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"Oh my," Keiko's voice was shrill. "Is he all right?"

"Serves him right!" Kuwabara said. "He's such a pain in the neck, always bagging on us when we have feelings, and now look at him!"

"You really hate him, don't you?" Yusuke said incredulously.

"That's the understatement of the year," Shizuru said placently.

"Come on, lets go go check on the midget clone."

The wailing only got louder as they came closer to the bedroom. Kurama opened the door to find Ryoko sprawled out on the ground.

"Oh Ryoko!" Keiko exclaimed.

"She looks dead, too." Yusuke said as Kurama knelt by her, whispering soft words into her ears. She stirred and muttered something that was indiscernible over the child's crying. It sounded to Kurama something like "cheesecake".

Ryoko rolled over on her stomach and groggily pushed herself to her feet.

"I just had the weirdest dream." She said, pushing her hair out of her face. "When he got the Jagan put in." Kurama's eyes widened but he didn't say anything. The other had been busy fussing over Koji and hadn't heard her comment.

"I was getting sleepy and the kid reached out. I held his hand and then all of a sudden my legs . . ." Ryoko looked down at her ankles and continued, "They felt so weak. They hurt like something was eating away at them from the inside. I fell on the floor and it went away, but I was so tired; I fell asleep." The two kitsune turned to stare at Koji, who was being cradled by Keiko.

"Poor baby," She said softly. "Koji-kun misses his mommy."

"Hey, Kurama?" Yusuke said suddenly. "What's with the marbles?"

Kurama followed Yusuke's gaze to the floor, which was littered with shiny black spheres.

"Yusuke, do you remember your mission to rescue Yukina?"

"Yeah, you mean when that Tarukane guy captured her?"

"Do you remember why he wanted an ice maiden?"

"Because her tears . . . wait, you mean to tell me those are his tears?"

"Precisely."

"But they're black!"

"There were rumors in Makai that a fire demon born of an ice maiden mother would she tears of black hiroseki stones." Ryoko's words were icy and her eyes looked upon something unseen. "Perhaps the on of such a being would shed the same tears."

"Thinking of home?" Yusuke asked, intrigued.

"We'll be there soon. I wonder . . ." She cut off– _I wonder if I'll want to_– Ryoko had lost so much in that world. Yokisuno. Kuronue. But Makai was her home. The rancid air of the demon world still held value in her heart. It made her feel at ease, as if the facade of the human world had evaporated. _Home . . . _

"Okay, time to give three-eyes a wake up call." Shizuru's calm voice brought Ryoko back to the present.

"Right."

Wrong.

She took the sleeping boy in her arms and silently left the apartment.

So how's my devoted readers? Mad that I haven't posted in months? I figured as much. Well, my computer died hard on me this summer, and then I was stuck in Oregon for a month and a half. That's waaay out in the boonies, so computer? No way.

I had my beta type this up for me from the wads of paper I had lying around when I first wrote this story. The idea, of course isn't all mine, my friend Leuleu helps me with all my yu yu stuff. But Ryoko is my own creation. Yami is her OC. Along with kuro, nymph, and Koji. 3 all other characters are not mine.

I hope you like it.


	2. Chapter 2

_Shuuichi was surprised to see Yami at his doorstep. The child she held was asleep so he offered her his couch, but Yami simply thrust the child in his arms. Her eyes were swollen and hollow and she choked on her words when she asked him, as a friend, to take care of him. Kurama was left to stare at the empty doorway, as before he could protest, Yami fled from the condo. Kohi turned in his sleep, grasping Kurama's shirt in his tiny fist._

_What's going on?_

_Ryoko appeared in the doorway behind him, nuzzling into his shoulder. She stopped suddenly, sniffing the air. "Has Hiei come ove–" Kurama turned to reveal the baby in his arms. __"Oh Kami-Inarisan! __It's a baby Hiei!" She squealed._

"_Love, you were __**there**__ when Yami gave birth_ . . ."_ Kurama said patiently._

"_Well, yeah. But he came out as a wolf pup. You can't expect to know what he'll look like when he gets in human form and look, he looks just like his daddy! He even has three–"_ _Ryoko paused in mid-sentence. "Oh no."_

After the third night in the forest, Hiei began to feel the creepings of an emotion that he never thought he would ever understand. It was loneliness. For the first time in his life, he felt uncomfortable living on a tree branch. His days dragged on endlessly silent."

"Go away Nymph."

"Why? Am I bothering you?"

"No, I'm just contagious." Kuro replied sarcastically.

"So I'm okay then?"

"NO! GET LOST!"

"Will you two shut the hell up?" Kuro and Nymph jumped, turning to face an extremely annoyed Hiei, their eyes bugging out in fear. Nymph pointed a finger at Kuro.

"She started it." She said.

"Did not!"

"Did too!" Hiei growled and walked onto the balcony, shaking his head..

"I'm leaving," he said.

"Hey! We came all the way over here to see you!" Kuro cried, but Hiei was gone.

"Nice going." Nymph elbowed the rat demon.

"What? It's _your_ fault!"

"Was not!"

Yami opened the door only to find Nymph and Kuro submerged in a cat fight that could only be broken by Yami's wolf-howl. For the second time that morning the two demons were cowering under a Jaganshi's rage.

"Have you guys seen Hiei?"

"Nope." said Nymph, and the two fo them resumed their squabble like nothing happened.

Yami shrugged and made her way to the cradle in which Koji currently laid. She smiled sadly upon her son, who looked so much like his father, right down to the Jagan on his forehead. He was sleeping soundly, but Yami could sense it. She could smell it. Something was cold and empty.

He could no longer sleep at night. He found himself reaching for her. Yami, his beautiful wife. Her silky hair that he longed to run his fingers through, her soft, warm skin. He loved her more than he knew he was able to love. She had borne him a son. He had watched her as she thrust their boy into the fox's home, watched as she left, unconstrained tears flowing down her face like the rain that now beat at his body.

It has started as a few subtle drops, but now Hiei was soaked. He had neglected eating anything, but craved no food. Instead he sad and listened to the rain, which beat at a steady pace, making his mind blank. The rain's song was lulling him into numbness. He didn't feel himself swaying, didn't feel the branch slip from under him. The sky drifted further as Hiei plummeted to the ground, his vision cloudy and a sweet voice in his head.

Hiei awoke sometime later to find himself sprawled on the wet grass. The rain had lessened, but was still falling on him. Hiei didn't move; he just stared up into the wet, dripping branches. A gray sky broke through the gaps, looking almost quite in contrast to the dark leaves.

_What did I do wrong?_

The fire demon felt like he was drowning in her tears. As the rain dropped on him, he saw her weeping face. Knowing he was the cause, he allowed it to swallow him whole.

_Koji . . . _His thoughts turned to his son; his baby boy.

Hiei's Jagan flashed. He could see the child. Ryoko's sad face looked over him as he slept. Hi hand gripped his sheets, his breathing uneven and his tiny face showed winces of pain. Koji's Jagan opened as his father's passed over it, and they gazed into each other's eyes. Hiei's legs suddenly shot through with pain. Koji broke eye contact and the pain subsided, leaving Hiei shaken and angry. His son was in pain and he was just lying there. Shivering slightly, Hiei wrenched himself up.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryoko stood up from her chair and stretched.

_I can't take this anymore._

She made her way to the balcony. The overhang of the floor above them blocked the rain from falling on the veranda, but it did nothing to soften the chilly wind. She leaned on the railing and rested her head on her arms, looking out to the forest. It was more of an overgrown park, really, but Ryoko called it a forest just the same. It reminded her of older times. She let out a sigh and felt Kurama's strong arms around her waist and his head on her shoulder.

"I don't know what to do, love." He said tiredly. "He hasn't woken in two days."

"My healing powers don't seem to help, either." Ryoko replied.

"_I_ could use some of your healing powers . . ." Kurama said playfully.

"You jerk," Ryoko replied, smiling amusedly. "You need sleep, Mr. Minamina." She tapped his nose.

"Oh, harsh." He said, feigning a hurt expression.

"Go, you big baby." She turned and pushed him off her. He turned to go, and she smacked his backside to say: "Hurry up!"

"Okay I'm going."

No sooner had Kurama plopped down on the couch he heard Ryoko yell, "Shuuichi!"

Kurama jumped up from the cushioned escape to the balcony. Ryoko was crouching over a wet and unconscious Hiei. There were leaves and twigs in his unkempt hair, and he was pale. Kurama could tell Hiei hadn't been eating as he kneeled by his friend. He took Hiei up into his arms and carried Hiei's limp form inside.

Kurama glancedsadly at the corner of the apartment where Hiei was currently crouched. The fire demon hdn't moved from his spot in days, staring at nothing in particular with a pained look in his glazed eyes. He seemed so far away. Ryoko had tried once before to bring him to the present, but to no avail. Her poking and tugging did nothing at all. She soon got frustrated and Kurama had to hold her back from poking out Hiei's Jagan with a pair of very shiny scissors.

Kurama bent down next to Hiei and stared him square in the face. He was avoiding Kurama's eyes with precision. _Hmmm . . ._ Kurama reached out ha hand to clasp Hiei's shoulder, but stopped short when cry was heard from the bedroom. Kurama gave his friend on last worried glance before getting to his feet. Koji's wails became louder as he made his way down the carpeted hall.

"Oh, _now_ he decides to wake up . . ." he heard Ryoko gasp as she rushed passed him to the cradle, thrusting a half formed rice ball in his hands. She cradled Koji in her arms and cooed to him, but he continued screaming, tears flowing down his face. Kurama watched from the doorway munching the onigiri.

"You want your mother, don't you?" Ryoko said to Koji, running her fingers through the child's soft hair.

"And he's stubborn like Hiei; so he won't stop till he's in her arms. Speaking of Hiei–" Shuuichi stopped talking as Ryoko was no longer listening, having rushed out the door to the living room, muttering a small "hold on" as an apology. He sighed again. The whole situation was stressful on them all, and he could understand why they would never listen to him.

_Of course, with all of Koji's screaming, she probably didn't hear me._

"Hiei!" he heard Ryoko say loudly. "Take him; he's crying!" She held the baby out to Hiei who merely stared at him. He didn't move.

_**SMACK!**_

"What was that for?" Hiei tseemed to have come out of his trance, and was now gingerly rubbing his face where Ryoko had slapped him.

"He's your son!" Ryoko said fiercely. "He needs you!"

"And Yami left him with you! She gave you two responsibility for him because she went back to Makai! She's proabably got another lucky bastard to love who's better than me–"

_**SMACK!**_

"How could you say that Hiei? You know she loves you! Koji's living proof of that!" Ryoko was crying with exasperation now.

"Hn. What do you know?"

"Hiei," Kurama spoke quietly, but both turned to look at him. "Yami didn't leave you for someone else. I know because I am a fox. She is a wolf. When our kind choose someone, we keep them. Yami chose you, and wolves mate for life." Kurama did not look away, staring deeply into his friend's eyes.

"Hmph." Hiei looked away once more, Koji continued crying. Ryoko gathered him up into her arms and stormed off. Kurama stayed where he was and Hiei had the impression was trying to bare holes in him with his eyes. After a few minutes, Koji's wails quieted and the apartment was filled with the sound of Ryoko's voice. She was singing a soft melody with a lilting tune, a song meant to soothe the heart. Then Hiei spoke:

"There's something wrong with him, Kurama." Kurama's eyes softened. Hiei continued. "I can feel his pain when I look at him." Shuuichi felt helpless. His friend's life was breaking apart and he could do nothing to slow or hinder it.

"Before you met her, you knew nothing of love." Shuuichi said quietly. "I too have felt it. As Youko, I had a cold heart. There was never any warmth, any light, the emotions that I felt were hollow and dark. But then Ryoko hit me on the head. She came into my life and filled the dark space. I became softer, but not vulnerable. When I came to Ningenkai and was loved by Shiori, I came to realize what it was that had been missing inside of me for centuries. And now you too have been shown that power. Do you still think me weak for being like them."

"Spineless and ready to be walked on? No, you're better than that, though someday your oversized heart will be the end of you." Hiei smirked. "At least _I_ don't get carried away. You're sympathizing with me and I'm beginning to think you're a fool." Kurama laughed.

"Better a fool than a wretch, don't you think?"

"Heh. I wouldn't know."

"I guess you're done moping now?" Kurama flet that he had done something useful after all. "You should probably get up and do something or you'll get lazy."

"I've still got some things to think through so no thanks."

"As you wish," Kurama stood up and went to the bedroom where Ryoko was seated on the bed with Koji. His wailing was subdued, but he was still crying. Ryoko continued to sing, however, and though Koji didn't, Kurama felt his heart lighten at her voice. Ryoko stared at him lovingly as she sang, soft words in a forgotten language of her clan that resonated through the room. She looked upon Koji with soft eyes that belonged to a mother, and Shuuichi's heart soared as he remembered Shiori's warm embrace, and the mother's love for her son. He looked upon Koji and felt that he loved him too, as a father. Her expression was so caring and soft that it made him fall in love with her all over again. _I can't wait till __**I**__ have kids . . ._


End file.
